132 Queen Street, Woollahra NSW 2025
http://www.victorchurchill.com.au
Butchering made easy
Thanks to Victor Churchill butchery for inviting me to attend their Basic Beef Butchery Class ($325 per person) which went for about 3 hours. The small and unsurprisingly all male class was led by Butcher Dave Ellis and Chef Laurent assisted. Dave taught where the popular cuts came from in a middle carcass including sirloin, fillet, rump, t-bone and ribs. We were shown how to prepare our own OP Rib which was worth $42.99 per kg. My Grass Fed Rib Eye Rack was worth $127.94 in the end which was quite a generous take home parcel. It was quite an entertaining and well-paced class and at the end we enjoyed some perfectly cooked meats with a glass of wine. It was quite a long time to be standing so I thought it would have been nice if the class ended with a sit down to relax at a table to enjoy the cooked meats with perhaps some roasted vegetables or salad. I'm not sure if I'd actually use my butchery skills again because I'm a bit of a lazy cook but it's certainly given me a insight into how much wastage there is when preparing dry age meat and hence why it costs more too. Chef Laurent did a great job in cooking the meat which was so tender and flavoursome. Definitely some of the best tasting meat I've ever had although I wish I could cook it at home just as good.
Other visits to Victor Churchill:
• 10 June 2011 - Basic Beef Butchery Class
• 12 Sept 2009 - Checking out the butchery
SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: You'll learn how to break down the middle carcass into various popular cuts, Sampling some grass fed rib eye at the end of the class, Includes a Grass Fed Rib Eye Rack to take home
CONS: Clothes smelt like meat when I got home after the class, Be sure to eat before the class or you might go hungry like I did, Quite pricey so you'd want to be passionate about learning to cut up a carcass
MUST TRY: Remembering you can have your own private dinner party at Victor Churchill
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Apron included
A few safety tips about the very sharp knifes before the class — if you drop your knife don't try and grab it
Class in the shop
It's a little freaky when a little girl stares inquisitively through the window in the middle of a butchery class
Cutting up the carcass
Final cuts of meat (left to right)
1. Whole Rump
2. Trim that can only be used as dice or mince
3. Eye fillet steak
4. Sirloin steak
5. The Chateaubriand and tail portion of the Eye fillet
6. Striploin (sirloin)
There's a fair amount of wastage when preparing a dry aged cut of meat
OP Ribs for class
Butcher knifes, string and cutting boards
Class about to prepare their OP Rib
Bones trimmed — off cuts could be minced or used in a casserole
Can cut into four ribs
Can string tie as a rack
Younger animal on left than right when there's more visible blood in the bone area — meat would be more tender too I believe
My Grass Fed Rib Eye Rack was worth $127.94
Chef Laurent cooking come tasty samples
Grass Fed Rib Eye
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Sirloin
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Drying room
4 comments:
I'd love to do some work experience in a butcher's one day to learn more about meat.
The course looks great, but I think over $300 (even if you do get $125 worth of goodies to take home) is a little pricey for me.
I still haven't been to Victor Churchill, must put it on my to do list for 2012!
I never thought that there is a right way of cutting red meat..
spare ribs is one of my favorite.:)
I wanted to attend their class during Crave but thought it was a bit expensive. Looks like great value, though.
hi richard, doing work experience in a butcher for 1 day would probably be cheaper :-) you'll have to check out Victor Churchill one day for sure. might even join you on a weekend if i'm free.
hi david, the course was about how to get the cuts of meat from the larger carcass but the actual cutting isn't so specific although depending on what knife your using can determine how the angle it to cut effectively i believe
hi lateraleating, i think it is quite expensive if you're not a passionate person wanting to know how to cut up your own meat from a larger cut. in the long run if you did end up using the skills you can save money buying your meat although you'll need quite a bit of table space to cut up anything larger than a OP Rib.
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